


Misunderstanding

by WattStalf



Series: my synthetic valentine [3]
Category: Fallout (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Misunderstandings, Second Person, x Reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-12-01
Packaged: 2018-05-04 06:37:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5324198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WattStalf/pseuds/WattStalf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick witnesses something that he wishes he hadn't and begins to reevaluate your relationship. Meanwhile, you wonder why he's been avoiding you lately.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> Argh, it's not smutty at all, what am I doing? I'm drifting away from my unholy calling! Anyway, this is a prompt I got on tumblr, where someone wanted to Nick to catch SS kissing someone else. They left the context up to me, so I turned it into a more lighthearted situation than they probably wanted.  
> 

You didn't know that Nick had walked into the room during your exchange with Piper and you had no idea that he had quietly hung back and then disappeared around the corner before either of you had noticed. You had just been too distracted, excited about something or other she had said, and the two of you were close. If you had known Nick were watching, you might not have planted a kiss on her cheek.

But you didn't know and so you did and he saw and ducked away before you had the chance to explain yourself or even notice that he was there in the first place. Which left him confused about what he had just witnessed while you were none the wiser and still left with your excitement.

Nick had not felt quite this stupid in a very long time, certainly not in this lifetime, and it wasn't a feeling he was used to. He was supposed to be more perceptive than this, he was supposed to be better at reading people than this, and yet he had been completely wrong about you.

Maybe it would have been a little bit easier to deal with that mistake if he had the excuse of not knowing you well, but he knew you very well. You had been traveling together a lot and for a long time, and he should have been able to read you like a book. He shouldn't have completely misinterpreted your relationship as he so clearly had.

At first, he had been cautious about that. He had no way to be sure if it was just wishful thinking. After all, you had been through so much and it would be awfully presumptuous to assume you wanted a relationship, but as time had gone on, and as you two had realized just how much you really had in common, he had started to believe that you had developed feelings for him.

He had certainly developed feelings for you along the way. You were beautiful to him, in more ways than one, and he couldn't help but admire your strength and resolve, and a mutual respect had developed almost instantly. It didn't take long for his respect to grow into something more, but he wondered know how he ever could have thought that yours had grown at all.

It was painfully humiliating to realize just how wrong he had been, to realize that not only were you not interested in him, but you were interested in someone else, you were involved with Piper. How had he missed it? How had he been blind to something like that developing while seeing something between the two of you that wasn't there? You had been right in front of him for so long.

But now he knew better, and though it hurt more than he could say, he was at least glad he found out this way, rather than a much harder way. It could have been much worse; he could have confessed to you and been rejected, you could have mocked him to his face or stopped talking to him altogether. His feelings could have ruined everything, but now that he knew there was no point in revealing them, he had saved himself further embarrassment.

Still, he wasn't sure if he was ready to face you yet, having learned such an important piece of information that changed his side of your relationship, especially knowing that you could not know he had learned this. He decided, then, that he wouldn't actively seek you out anymore. He'd leave you some time alone, perhaps some time with Piper, while he would spend that time trying to get over you.

~X~

You didn't know why Nick had been avoiding you for the past couple of days, but it was starting to worry you. It had started out of nowhere, and you couldn't think of anything you could have done to upset him. The two of you had become close- closer than you had ever expected to become with anyone- and you had not intentionally done anything to upset him.

But whatever had caused him to stop talking to you or even being around for you to invite out with you, you were willing to do anything to make up for it. You cared about him quite a bit, even daring to admit to yourself that you valued him as much more than a friend. You had no plans of telling him that any time soon, but that didn't mean you wanted to lose his friendship over something that you hadn't even known was offensive to him.

You were determined to get to the bottom of things, considering how out of character this behavior was. Normally, if Nick had a problem with someone, he didn't keep them to himself. The fact that he was hiding the reason he was mad at you was unusual, and that only spurred you on as you decided to confront him about the whole situation.

“Can we talk?” you asked, walking up behind him. You had made sure he didn't see you coming so he couldn't make his excuses and leave before you'd had a chance to talk to him.

To his credit, he did a good job pretending that nothing was amiss as he smiled and said, “Sure, what can I do for you?”

“I want to know why you've been avoiding me lately,” you said bluntly, seeing no point in beating around the bush.

As predicted, he denied it at first. “I've just been busy,” he lied. “I'm sorry if you thought I had some reason to avoid you, but-”

“I've noticed how things have changed,” you cut him off. “You always make your excuses and leave whenever I'm around, and any time I try to find you to bring along, you've disappeared. We used to go everywhere together, you know? If I've done something to upset you, I wish you'd tell me.”

You were surprised at the way your voice broke as you reached the end of your sentence. You hadn't noticed that you were close to tears until you felt them stinging at your eyes and that was when you realized that this had hurt you even more than you had known. It was not just that you had feelings for him; it was the thought of losing your closest friend when you didn't even know why that was breaking your heart.

Nick seemed surprised by this as well, and it took him a moment before he finally replied. “I wasn't...you didn't do anything, alright? It was just me. I didn't wanna have to talk about this, because I look like an idiot here but...I saw you with Piper.”

At first, you didn't realize what he was talking about. “Piper? What are you talking about?”

“The other day, when you...kissed her. I wasn't trying to spy or anything, it was an accident, but I did see it. And I know I didn't have any reason to get so hurt over it, but I've got feelings for you, and I didn't know that you two were an item. I guess I overreacted a little, but I've been stuck on you for a while,” he admitted, much to your amazement.

You had never thought that he felt the same way about you and had never thought the subject would ever be breached. You were so stunned by his confession that it took you a moment to recall something else that he had said, but when you did, you couldn't help but laugh.

“I guess it is pretty ridiculous, huh?” he asked with a bitter smile.

“Not that,” you replied. “You thought that me and Piper were together? Oh, god, no, that kiss was just...I mean, she and I are close, but we're just friends. We were happy about something, that was all. I mean, it was just a kiss on the cheek.”

Now, Nick looked sheepish. “Well, I would have appreciated a kiss like that just the same,” he mumbled.

“What, were you jealous?” you asked, grinning now. “Because I could always do you one better.” And you did, pressing your lips against his.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where all this silly fanfiction came from. I apologize but at the same time, I'm really not all that sorry so that's a thing. I hope you all enjoyed.


End file.
